Unless otherwise indicated herein, the materials described in this section are not prior art to the claims in this application and are not admitted to be prior art by inclusion in this section.
Electrocaloric effect materials are materials that can experience a temperature change when subjected to an applied voltage. This temperature change can be reversed upon the removal of the applied voltage. By physically coupling and decoupling electrocaloric effect material to and from a heat source, thermal energy can be dynamically transferred in quantities that are greater in one direction than the other. The described principles may be applied to a heat transfer device that can be utilized to transfer thermal energy away from a heat source.
The present disclosure appreciates that heat transfer devices utilizing electrocaloric effect materials may experience various performance inefficiencies. Specifically, while electrocaloric effect materials may absorb thermal energy upon the application of an electrical signal or voltage, this effect reverses when the voltage is removed. Thermal rectifier materials may be used to resist the backflow of thermal energy from adjacent electrocaloric effect material layers in the direction toward the source being cooled, however during cycles in which voltage is not applied to an electrocaloric effect material proximate to a heat source, thermal energy may be reabsorbed by the heat source, or at least not efficiently dissipated from the heat source. Consequently, a heat transfer device utilizing conventional electrocaloric effect materials may not operate with high efficiency in removing thermal energy from a heat source.